Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

Download & Play

Questions

Newspaper Page Text

i
its profits were $91,752. The Board
of eRview of Cook county refused to
find any capital stock ralue in the
company.
One of the best known members
of this Board ofReview is Roy O.
West. He is a lawyeivwho has often
appeared in court in the morning for
the International Harvester Co. and
other big corporations and in the
afternoon gone to the meetings of
the Board of Review and decided
how much shall be the taxes of the
Board of Review and decided how
much shall be the taxes of the cor
porations Tie was taking fees from as
a lawyer in the morning. With his
left hand he takes money from cor
porations as their attorney and with
his right hand he draws pay as a
member of the Board of Review.
Another member of the board is
Fred W. Upham, president of the
Consumers' Coal Co., and tied up
close with other corporations. P. D.
Meachem, who sells cement to cor
porations, was another member of
the board.
When these gentlemen refused to
tax their jolly good friends, the meat
packers, and their corporation, the
National Box Co., Edgar sued. The
case, of course, was dragged on
through one court after another up
to the supreme court. By mandamus,
the court ordered West and Upham
and Meachem, the Board of Review
of Cook county, to assess the meat
packers' factory for making boxes
and pails. They refused. The deci
sion of the court, which will be heard
next month, is on whether the Board
of Review is in contempt of court
for not doing what it was told by
the supreme court to do.
"The National Box Co. is capital
ized at $200,000," said Edgar to a
Day Book reporter. "Its confessed
profits, according to its report to
the internal revenue collector of the
federal government in 1909, was $91,
752. Yet the Board of Review of
Cook county refuses to find prop
erty owned by this corporation which-i
ought to be taxed. This is taxdodg
ing. And when many corporations, re
fuse to pay the taxes which the law
says theV should pay, -whether the
common wage earner owns property
or not, the tax rate is increased. In
this way, taxdodging raises the rent
we pay and helps Bhove up the cost
of everything we eat and wear. There
are hundreds of ways in which the
poor man pays the tax."
Prom the sworn statements of Chi
cago corporations answering to the
federal corporation tax law, J2dgar
produces these figures showing how
much money they made and what
they were assessed in Chicago.
Marshall Field & Co. in 1910 swore
to making profits of $4,419,427. That
was the amount they paid taxes-ton
to the federal government. In Cook
county, however, they paid taxes on
ly on a measly $250,000. West, Up
ham and Meachem, the Board of Re
view, so valued the capital stock.
The big Field" store that covers
nearly a whole block on State street
and all the fixtures and merchandise
of silks and Jewelry and clothing, be
sides the big wholesale warehouse at
the other corner of the loop and all
the wholesale stocks all this was
only worth $250,000, according to the
1910 assessment of the Board of Re
view, f
Armour & Co., in 1909, swore to
the federal government its net profits
were $4,358,488. The jGlly good
friends of the packers on the Board'
of Review fixed things so that Ar
mour & Co. that year year paid taxes
on only $500,000. All the land,
slaughter houses, machinery and
equipment out at the yards of Ar
mour & Co. are worth only $500,000,
according to the 1909 -assessment of
Mr. West, Mr. Upham and Mr. Mea
chem. So runs, on the information col
lected by Maxwell Edgar for use in
suits to- compel these corporations
to pay taxes; The poor man's house
and lot a piano; even if it has been